“He showed on deep balls an extraordinary burst at the end of the play that was rare,” Carroll said when asked about the first time Lane impressed him in practice. “It called me to go back to him and talk to him about his track times because his 40 (-yard dash) time was not a time that would be indicative of a guy that can do that.”

Lane ran the 40 in 4.48 seconds in bad-weather conditions at his Pro Day workout at Northwestern State in March, when he also popped a 42-inch vertical leap. But Lane has a time of 21.5 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 48.0 in the 400 meters and a 23-foot long jump on his resume from Tyler (Texas) High School, as well.

As Carroll said, “I think he’s a 4.3 guy. If he would’ve run what I think he could probably run, I think he’s a 4.3 guy.”

I love this team. Anytime a player goes down I just say to myself, "Next man up!" And we hardly ever miss a beat. Lane's just another one of those guys that Carroll finds that just can get it done when its asked of him.

So the Buffalo Bills tested the rookie cornerback on their first play two weeks ago, just as the San Francisco 49ers went after Lane on their first play last week. Both passes were deep throws, with the Bills’ Ryan Fitzpatrick going to T.J. Graham along the sideline and the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick giving Mario Manningham a chance to test Lane. Both times, however, Lane was more than up to the challenge.

“What I’ve learned is that the game is easier than practice,” Lane said.

Sounds like he is receiving a lot of instruction.

“As he came along he became more and more a student of the game,” Bradley said. “With those guys in the backend – Richard Sherman, Kam (Chancellor) and Earl – I think those guys have really speeded up the learning process for him. Along with the coaches, who met with him extra.